Stylization filter | Substance 3D Painter

The Stylization filter provides a quick and easy way to convert your realistic materials into stylized materials with a hand-painted appearance.

The Stylization filter has various parameters and presets that allow you to fine-tune the filter to get the results you need.

To use the Stylization filter, add it to the top of your layer stack. For assets with multiple texture sets, you can add the filter to each texture set to stylize the full asset.

Parameters

The Stylization parameter controls the overall strength of the filter. Setting Stylization to 0 means the filter will have no visible effect on your material.

• Brush Strokes: Controls the visibility of changes under the Brush Strokes and Brush Strokes Effects subsections.
• Smoothness: Controls the visibility of changes under the Smoothness subsection.
• Colorize: Controls the visibility of changes under the Colorize subsection.
• Gradient: Controls the visibility of changes under the Gradient subsection.
• Baked Lighting: Controls the visibility of changes under the Baked Lighting subsection.
• Edges and Cavities: Controls the visibility of changes under the Edges and Cavities subsection.

Brush Strokes

Parameters in the Brush Strokes subsection work closely with those in the Brush Strokes Effects subsection. Use the Brush Strokes top-level parameter to make changes in these subsections more or less visible.

• Strokes amount: Control how many strokes contribute to the effect.
  • Strokes are automatically scaled based on this parameter, so increasing this value will make each stroke smaller.
  • More strokes will have a higher performance impact.
• Strokes mode: Determine whether a single brush or multiple brushes are used for painting. This setting changes the available options for the Strokes Select parameter.
  • Single stroke will only use a single brush shape for all paint strokes.
  • Multiple strokes chooses a random brush for each stroke from a set of related brushes.
  • Custom allows you to add your own mask that will be used for brush strokes.
• Strokes Select: Select which brush or brush set is used for painting. This setting is only available if Single Stroke or Multiple strokes is the selected Strokes mode.
• Strokes Scale: Adjust the size of brush strokes. Note that increasing Strokes Amount will decrease the size of brush strokes without modifying the Strokes Scale value.
• Non-Uniform Size: Toggle between uniform and non-uniform stroke scale. When set to True, additional parameters are available:
  • Strokes Size X: Control the width of brush strokes.
  • Strokes Size Y: Control the length of brush strokes.
• Strokes Scale Random: Toggle whether the size of strokes is randomly determined. When set to True, an additional parameter appears to control the range of random stroke sizes.
• Strokes Follow Surface: Toggle whether strokes are aligned with the surface of the mesh. 
• Strokes Rotation: Rotate the placement of strokes. This can be used together with Strokes Follow Surface to fine tune how strokes appear on the mesh.
• Strokes Rotation Random: Control the amount of random rotation added to each brush placement.
• Projection Hardness: Control the hardness of each brush stroke. A harder brush results in higher contrast edges of each brush mask.
• Normal Threshold: Each brush stroke is projected at a given point on the mesh. If the stroke covers areas of the mesh with a sufficiently different normal to the central point, they will be automatically masked to avoid stretched and warped projections. 

Brush Strokes Effects

Parameters in the Brush Strokes Effects subsection work closely with those in the Brush Strokes subsection. Use the Brush Strokes top-level parameter to make changes in these subsections more or less visible.

• Color Custom: Toggle whether to use a custom color for brush strokes. If enabled, the Color Opacity, Color, and Color Random parameters are available.
• Color Variation:  Adjust how much variation is allowed in brush stroke color based on the original base color. 
  • Color Variation uses the base color map to determine variation, and is not affected by Color Custom. 
• Color Opacity: Adjust the opacity of the custom color over the base brush stroke. This parameter is only available if Color Custom is enabled.
  • Setting Color Opacity to a value of zero gives the same results as having Color Custom disabled.
• Color: Select the custom color. This parameter is only available if Color Custom is enabled.
• Color Random: Control how much colors are randomized.
• Roughness Custom: Toggle whether to use a custom roughness value for brush strokes. Enabling Roughness Custom makes the Roughness parameter available.
• Roughness Variation: Adjust how much variation is allowed in brush stroke roughness based on the original roughness channel.
• Roughness: Set the custom roughness value for brush strokes.
• Metallic Custom: Toggle whether to use a custom metallic value for brush strokes. Enabling Metallic Custom makes the Metallic parameter available.
• Metallic Variation: Adjust how much variation is allowed in brush stroke metalness based on the original metallic channel.
• Metallic: Set the custom metallic value for brush strokes.
• Normal Custom: Toggle whether to use a custom normal value for brush strokes. Enabling Normal Custom makes the Normal parameter available.
• Normal Variation: Adjust how much variation is allowed in brush stroke normal based on the original normal channel.
• Normal Random: Add additional randomness to brush stroke normals.

Smoothness

Use the Smoothness top-level parameter to make changes in this subsection more or less visible.

Use the parameters in this subsection to smooth out the results of the layers underneath the Stylization Filter, effectively giving you controls to blur the results of your layer stack on a per-channel basis.

Colorize

Use the Colorize top-level parameter to make changes in this subsection more or less visible.

• Color Opacity: Adjust the opacity of the overlaid color. Setting this value to 0 is effectively the same as not using the Colorize subsection.
• Color: Select the color to colorize with.
• Grunge variation: Select a grunge to control how the color is used to colorize the material.
  • The grunge is applied in a similar way to brush strokes, where the selected Grunge variation is stamped randomly numerous times across the UV space. 
  • If no grunge is selected, the color will be applied uniformly across the material. 
  • If a grunge is selected, additional parameters become available to control the grunge.

• Grunge opacity: Adjust the opacity of the grunge. Setting this value to zero is effectively the same as setting Grunge Variation to none.
• Grunge Color: Change the color of the grunge overlaid on top of the base colorization.
• Tiling Amount: Change how many times the Grunge texture is tiled across the material. 
• Pattern Scale: Change the size of individual grunge stamps.

Gradient

Use the Gradient top-level parameter to make changes in this subsection more or less visible.

• Gradient Mode: Switch between 1 and 2 color gradient. A 1 color gradient creates a gradient from the chosen color to the original base color.
  • If 2 Colors is selected, additional controls become available to individually control the Color, Opacity, and Blending mode of the second color.
• Color: Select the color of the gradient.
• Color Opacity: Adjust how opaque the selected color is.
• Color Blending Mode: Select the blending mode with the underlying color.
• Horizontal Rotation: Control the position of the gradient by rotating it horizontally. When Vertical Rotation is set to -90 or 90, changing the horizontal rotation has no visible effect.
• Vertical Rotation: Control the position of the gradient by rotating it vertically.
• Gradient Invert: Toggle whether to swap the position of the gradient.
• Gradient Offset: Change the position of the gradient by offsetting it perpendicularly to its rotation.
• Gradient Contrast: Control the transition of the gradient. The value for this parameter is based on object space, not physical size.

Baked Lighting

Use the Baked Lighting top-level parameter to make changes in this subsection more or less visible.

Use the parameters in this subsection to bake lighting into the base color channel. This is particularly useful when you need fine control over the lighting of the asset independent of PBR light sources.

• Brush Strokes In Lighting: Control how much the brush strokes affect the lighting.
• Diffuse Intensity: Adjust the diffuse lighting intensity.
• Diffuse Color: Select the diffuse light color.
• Diffuse Radius: Adjust the radius of the diffused light.
• Diffuse Contrast: Control the smoothness of the diffuse light falloff. 
• Specular Intensity: Adjust the specular lighting intensity.
• Specular Color: Select the specular light color.
• Specular Radius: Adjust the radius of the specular light.
• Specular Contrast: Control the smoothness of the specular light falloff. If this value is higher than the diffuse radius while the specular intensity value is high, the specular light can cover the diffuse light.
• Horizontal Rotation: Adjust the horizontal angle of the light.
• Vertical Rotation: Adjust the vertical angle of the light.

Edges and Cavities

Use the Edges and Cavities top-level parameter to make changes in this subsection more or less visible.

Use the parameters in this section to highlight or darken edges or cavities.

• Color Sharpen: Sharpen the output of the base color channel.
• Surface Sharpen: Sharpen and highlight surface details like cavities and edges.
• Mode: Select whether to customize edges, cavities, or both.
  • Additional options appear based on which option is selected.
• Edges and Cavities Contrast: Adjust the contrast of the highlights applied to surface cavities and edges. 
• Cavities Opacity: Control the opacity of the cavity darkening.
• Cavities Spread: Control how far the darkening extends away from cavities.
• Brush Strokes in Cavities: Control how visible brush strokes are in cavities.
• Custom Cavities Color: Toggle whether to use a custom cavity color. If enabled, an additional Cavities Color parameter appears.
• Cavities Color: Select the custom cavities highlight color.
• Edges Opacity: Control the opacity of edge highlights.
• Edges Spread: Control how far the highlight extends away from edges.
• Brush Strokes in Edges: Control how visible brush strokes are on edges.
• Custom Edges Color: Toggle whether to use a custom edge color. If enabled, an additional Edges Color parameter appears.
• Edges Color: Select the custom edge highlight color.

Helpers

Some parameters in this filter can be quite subtle in the impact they have on the material; the Display Helpers available in this subsection are provided as a way to help diagnose issues and fine tune parameters to your liking.